History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I, Part 67

Author: L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts
Number of Pages: 700

USA > Massachusetts > History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I > Part 67

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

* Now a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church.

+ President of a theological institute in Baltimore, MId.

# Deceased.

215

HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY.

and Southampton. 4. To Westhampton, Norwich (now Hunt- ington), Middlefield, and Chester. 5. To Roberts Meadow, Chesterfield, and Worthington. 6. To Williamsburg, Goshen, Cummington, Plainfield, and Hawley. 7. To West Hatfield, Conway, Ashfield, Buckland, and Charlemont. 8. To Hatfield, Whately, Sunderland, Deerfield, Greenfield, Shelburne, and Heath. These post-routes were maintained substantially as here given until about 1860, and four of them are still in existence. They were given up in consequence of the multiplication of post-offices and the increasing frequency of the mails. It was customary to take the produce of the farms in payment for the paper. In 1788, John Long, post-rider, notified his sub- seribers in Shelburne that " wheat will be received in pay- ment at Mr. Ransom's store, provided each one pays his proportion of the transportation to Northampton." Several of the post-riders came to Northampton on the day before the day of publication, and on some of the routes it required two days to complete the distribution of the papers. The nearest post-office to Northampton was the office at Spring- field, and to that place Mr. Butler was accustomed to send for his exchange papers and letters. A man brought them up on horseback. Thus the "latest news" was obtained. The post-office in Northampton was established in 1792, when the Gazette was six years old, and that was for many years the only office in the present county of Hampshire. The mail which supplied that office passed up and down between Springfield and Brattleboro' once a week. There was no mail-route leading to the east or the west from Northampton.

The paper, under Mr. Butler's management, was chiefly filled with foreign news, Congressional proceedings, speeches and public documents, and communications relating to public af- fairs. There was very little home news, and the editor rarely ventured to express his opinions. The lists of marriages and deaths were very mcagre, less than half a dozen death-notices appearing during the first two years, and not a single notice of a marriage. In the early years of the paper the advertisements were quite limited in number and extent. In one paper, in 1787, only one advertisement appeared.

Mr. Butler built the first paper-mill in Hampshire County. It was on Mill River, on the site of the Vernon paper-mill that was destroyed by fire in 1878, and was built about 1794 for the manufacture of writing-paper. It had but one vat, and all the paper was made by hand. It afterward passed into the hands of his brother, Daniel Butler. He lived on Hawley Street, and the house in which he lived and which he owned is still occu- pied by two of his daughters. IIe sold the paper June 28, 1815, on account of impaired health, but retained the book- store several years afterward. He died March 9, 1831, aged sixty-eight years. To show the great change in the manner of conducting newspapers since that time, the fact is here recorded that the only notice taken in the Gazette of the decease of the man who founded the paper, published and edited it twenty- nine years, and was likewise printer, book-publisher, book- binder, bookseller, and paper-manufacturer, was a notice of four lines under the head of deaths !

June 28, 1815, Mr. Butler sold the Gazette to William W. Clapp, of Boston, afterward editor and publisher of the Boston Saturday Evening Gazette, who conducted it until Jan. 1, 1817, when it was sold to the law-firm of Bates & Judd (Hon. Isaac C. Bates, the distinguished lawyer, advocate, and statesman). Neither Mr. Bates nor Mr. Judd was a printer, and in June, 1817, Thomas W. Shepard, a practical printer, was admitted to the firm, and it was published under the firm-name of Thomas W. Shepard & Co. until April 10, 1822, when Sylvester Judd, Jr., brother of Hophin, purchased the establishment and be- came both publisher and editor, Mr. Shepard continuing to be the printer. Mr. Judd was led to purchase the Gazette through his brother's ownership of a quarter-interest in it, he having deceased while one of its proprietors. Under his control the

paper for thirteen years enjoyed a remarkable degree of pros- perity and achieved a wide-spread reputation.

Mr. Judd was born in Westhampton, April 23, 1789. Ile studied with Rev. Enoch HIale, the first minister of that town, pursuing a classical course. In 1816 he gratuitously superin- tended the erection of the meeting-house in Westhampton, in 1817 was sent to represent the town in the Legislature, and for several years was in the mercantile business in Westhamp- ton. He came to Northampton April 2, 1822. IIe early en- listed the paper in behalf of temperance, and, it is believed, was the first who excluded liquor advertisements. His man- agement of the paper was characterized by candor, truthful- ness, and respect for the rights of all classes. He was distin- guished as a historian, and enriched the columns of the Ga- zette with much of the fruits of his historical labors. He was likewise distinguished for his moderation, his exactness of statement, and his high sense of honor and fair dealing. He scrupulously avoided objectionable matter, and elevated his paper by keeping it free from the bitter and offensive politics and personalities which were prominent features of his local contemporaries. Thus he gained the confidence, respect, and support of the public to a remarkable degree, placing his pa- per, in prosperity and usefulness, second in the list of Massa- chusetts weeklies. The only other paper that exceeded it in circulation was the Massachusetts Spy, published at Worcester.

In 1833, Mr. Judd commenced keeping a regular journal, in which were entered, with serupulous reference to exactness, the state of the thermometer, the changes of the weather, the progress of vegetation, the appearance and disappearance of birds, frogs, different kinds of insects, etc. This he continued with great regularity until the day of his last illness. His labors in the department of manuscript collections, which he began at the age of seventeen, were immense, the volumes, closely filled, amounting to about seventy-five. He was made an honorary member of the Massachusetts and Connecticut Historical Societies, and of the American Antiquarian So- ciety. In 1816 he published a pamphlet entitled " Thomas Judd and his Descendants."

Why he sold the Gazette may be inferred from these ex- tracts from his private journal. Probably his sensitive and independent spirit recoiled from the rigid party discipline which prevailed in those days. In reference to giving up the paper he wrote: "The truth is I have become too skepti- cal in politics to be the conductor of a public press. I have but little confidence in politics or politicians. I dislike high Whigism and high Jacksonism, and cannot go with either. I have no reason to complain of the people of this county as wanting confidence in me or my paper. They have adhered to me to the last." He further says: " I have added many books to my library that I might help the Gazette by extracts and abstracts. I have thought but little of money-making ; have labored much more to make the Gazette interesting and useful to others (perhaps unsuccessfully) than to make it profitable to myself."

After he gave up the paper, Mr. Judd devoted much time to historical and antiquarian researches, extending his labors to Hampshire County, and to the States of Massachusetts and Connecticut. In 1857, at the urgent solicitation of many leading citizens, he commenced the publication of a history of Hadley. This work he pursued diligently until his death, April 18, 1860, when he had completed 460 printed pages of the work, the remaining 150 pages being finished by others, from material which he had prepared. This book was printed by John Metcalf, who for thirty-two years was a job-printer in Northampton, and who for many years printed the Gazette for Mr. Judd,-all the press-work being done on a hand-press.

Jan. 1, 1835, Mr. Judd sold the Gazette to Charles P. Hunt- ington, then a young lawyer, and William A. Hawley, a young printer just out of his apprenticeship of seven years with J. S. & C. Adams, at Amherst.

216

HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

An incident occurred at this time which, viewed in the light of later experience, renders it somewhat curious and decidedly amusing; but which at that time, with the sensi- tive feeling which then prevailed with regard to religious matters, was undoubtedly considered a wise stroke of policy. Mr. Huntington was a Unitarian, and the patrons of the Gazette were largely made up of the staunch converts to, and defenders of, the doctrines of the orthodox church as it was represented by the old-school theologians of the Congrega- tional order. It would not do to have so pronounced a Unitarian as Mr. Huntington take charge of the Gazette. Therefore, when Mr. Judd retired, he made the following announcement :

" Mr. Hawley, whose theological opinions correspond with those of the undersigned, will have the charge and control of the religious part of the paper, and there will be no change in that department unacceptable to the friends of sound re- ligion."

In the next number of the Gazette, Jan. 7, 1835, the new editors fortified themselves against any possible charge of re- ligious heresy by a similar announcement. They said :

" Mr. Huntington will have the editorial charge of the paper, except in that portion of its columns occupied with religious subjects, which Mr. Hawley will control, conducting that department with views corresponding to those of the late proprietor."

Mr. Huntington remained connected with the paper only five months, and on June 3, 1835, sold his interest to his part- ner, Mr. Hawley, who continued as publisher and editor until March, 1853, when, his health having failed, he sold the estab- lishment to Hopkins, Bridgman & Co., booksellers and pub- lishers, at the old Butler book-store, on Shop Row.

At the time Mr. Hawley became an owner of the paper he was employed in the office as a journeyman printer. It is related of him that, while the negotiations for the purchase of the paper were going on, his ambition led him to walk to Amherst to consult with his former employers, arriving there before they were at breakfast. The paper under his manage- ment enjoyed a high degree of prosperity, and fully main- tained its former reputation for excellence. He was a careful, industrious, painstaking man, serupulously honest and trust- worthy, and an apt and successful newspaper manager. He was an ardent Whig, and a faithful laborer for his party. In 1846 he was sent to the Legislature as representative from Northampton, and in 1847 and 1848 as senator from Hamp- shire County. In 1853, soon after he sold the Gazette, he was appointed by Governor Clifford to be sheriff of Hampshire County, which office he held two years. IFe then engaged in business in Northampton, with Lewis Melntire, one year ; then removed to Chicago, where he was for a short time in the lumber trade; and then became connected with the Chicago Journal, as business manager. On the breaking out of the Rebellion he was appointed a quartermaster in the army, and for most of the time was stationed at Alexandria, Va., where he died of consumption, Dec. 24, 1863, aged fifty- one years. He was born in Andover, Mass.

From March, 1853, to Jan. 1, 1858, the Gazette was pub- lished by Hopkins, Bridgman & Co., James R. Trumbull being employed as editor. Thomas Hale, of Windsor, Vt., then purchased a half-interest in the establishment, and be- came the editor, the publishing firm being Thos. Hale & Co. In September of the same year the paper was purchased by James R. Trumbull, who published and edited it until Nov. 1, 1858, when the Hampshire Gazette, and the Northampton Courier, both then prosperous papers and rivals for popular favor, were united under the ownership and management of Trumbull & Gere. This firm continued until Jan. 1, 1877, when, on account of his impaired health, Mr. Trumbull sold his interest in the establishment to his partner, who has since owned and conducted the paper alone. Mr. Trumbull learned

the printer's trade in the Gazette office, under Mr. Hawley, and for four years published and edited the Amherst Express. His editorial service was almost continuous for twenty-eight years. The present proprietor and editor, Henry S. Gere, learned the printer's trade in the Hampshire Herald office, in Northampton, the first abolition paper published in Western Massachusetts. lle edited that paper in 1847-48, one year, and afterward owned and edited the Northampton Courier nearly ten years, from May 1, 1819, to Nov. 1, 1858. Hle has thus been in continuous newspaper labor thirty-two years.

Under the management of Trumbull & Gere the paper for eighteen years enjoyed great prosperity, with a gradually-in- creasing circulation. It devoted much of its space to matters of local interest, and in this respect led all of its contempo- raries. It also gathered and published much historical matter. The history of Easthampton, afterward enlarged and published in a pamphlet by Rev. Payson W. Lyman, was first published in the Gazette by Mr. Lyman while he was a college student. Histories of Williamsburg, Ilaydenville, Florence, and Am- herst College were also compiled for and published in its columns. It published a carefully-prepared compendium of the general news of the week, and devoted a liberal space to choice and instructive reading of a high moral and literary character, and thus won an enviable reputation as a first-class family paper, which it has since fully maintained.

The long service of the conductors of the Gazette is some- thing remarkable and worthy of special mention. Mr. Butler conducted the paper twenty-nine years ; Mr. Judd, thirteen years ; Mr. . Hawley, eighteen years; and J. R. Trumbull, Trumbull & Gere, and H. S. Gere (to date), twenty-five years ; covering in these four editorships a total of eighty-five years.

During the ninety-three years of the Gazette's existence thirteen other papers have been started in Northampton, and have died ; also five in Amherst, besides college publications, and three in Ware. It has been enlarged eight times, to meet the demands of its patrons. No complete file of it is in exist- ence, the nearest approach to it being in possession of the pub- lic library of Northampton, and open to the inspection of the public. Nothing is known respecting the extent of the circu- lation of the paper during Mr. Butler's proprietorship, but when Mr. Judd took it, in 1822, the number of copies printed was 1020; in 1827 it had risen to 1968; and in 1834, when Mr. Judd sold out, he stated the circulation to be 1900. It continued to inerease, and at the close of Mr. Hawley's pro- prictorship it had risen to 2400. In 1858, when the Gazette and the Courier were united, the circulation was upward of 3000, and it steadily increased until it reached a weekly issue of 3550 copies. All this was accomplished without systematic canvassing. Its subscribers have come to it voluntarily, and the associations thus formed have, in numerous cases, been continued half a century, and in some instances much longer. In many families the paper has been taken by father, son, grandson, and great-grandson, from its first issue, and it has been greeted from year to year with ever-increasing cordiality and appreciation.

A familiar feature of the Gazette is the peculiar type in which the heading is printed. This style of type was used in the first issue of the paper, and remained in use until 1790, when a more ornamental heading appeared, and was used until 1804, at which time the old type was restored, and has been in use ever since. Tradition says that when the old style of type disappeared from the paper the subscribers fell off. The style of type now in use has been the same for eighty years.

The paper was printed on a hand-press until about the year 1840, when a power-press was used, the motive-power still being that of the human arm. In 1853 a small steam-engine was used, and from 1860 to 1866 the motive-power was furnished by a caloric-engine. Since then, a ten-horse power steam- engine has been in use. Until 1865 the office of the Gazette was in various places ; but in that year its proprietors purchased

217

HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY.

the brick school-house just in the rear of the old church and the court-house, and in this eligible location the paper has since been printed and its business conducted.

Job-printing was not a prominent feature of the Gazette office until about 1850; but since that time that department has gradually increased, until now the Gazette Printing Com- pany's job-office is one of the best equipped in Western Mas- sachusetts.

Twice, for short periods, the Gazette has been issued daily. In 1846, while the interest in the Mexican war was at its highest pitch, Mr. Hawley issued a daily from May 27th to July 20th ; and in 1861, from April 26th to May 25th, when the excite- ment over the war of the Rebellion was most intense, a daily was printed by Trumbull & Gere.

The first directory of Northampton was issued from the Gazette office in 1860, by Trumbull & Gere, containing vahu- able historical matter relating to the business-men of the town. In 1874 another directory of the town was issued by the same firm, and again in 1875, the latter being the most complete and valuable historical register ever published in Northampton.

The subscription price of the paper during its earlier years does not appear in its columns. Jan. 1, 1796, at the time of the first enlargement of the paper, the following publisher's announcement was made: " The price from the Ist of January, 1796, will be nine shillings per annum. He flatters himself that every person of liberality will readily acknowledge the justice of so trifling an advance, when they advert to the in- tolerable rise of almost every article of consumption in the country, without taking into notice the extra labor and ex- pense of a sheet of this size." In 1803, under the heading "Conditions of the Gazette, " it was announced that to town subscribers the price was $1.50 a year. "In neighboring towns, $1, provided payment is made within the year; if not, $1.25." Under Mr. Judd's management (1822 to 1835), the price was $2; under Mr. Hawley (1835 to 1853), the price was $1.50, in advance, and $2 at the close of the year. In 1864, after seven enlargements, the price was advanced 50 cents.

It is, perhaps, needless to say that during the whole period of its long existence the Gazette has been a power in the field it has occupied. It has never been of a sensational order, and has never attempted to influence the publie by any other means than calm and candid appeals to reason and judgment. Its conductors have been men of wisdom, experience, and high moral sentiment; and sound sense and a desire to elevate the moral tone of the community have been its leading character- istics. It has had many able contributors, and the foremost men of the Connecticut Valley and the adjacent hill country have from time to time communicated their views to the public through its columns. From long association, and from that confidence which comes from continued appreciation of worth, the people of the county have been largely influenced by it in their political action. It was the able and fearless defender of the cause of the government in the stormy period succeed- ing the war of the Revolution, and of the Whig party and its principles, and of anti-slavery, loyalty, and patriotism as embodied in the Republican party. But not alone nor least in politics has its influence been felt. To all measures affecting the industrial interests of the people of its region it has given a vigorous and efficient support ; and as a teacher of good morals it has exerted an influence that has been salutary and far-reaching. And to future generations may it continue to teach wisely and be heard.

THIE HAMPSHIRE COUNTY JOURNAL.

On the 13th day of April, 1860, Henry M. Burt issued the first number of the Northampton Free Press, which, after various vicissitudes of fortune, fourteen years later was con- solidated with the Northampton Journal, the paper thereafter bearing the name for a few years of The Journal and Free

Press, when, passing into the hands of the present proprietors, its name was again changed to the Hampshire County Journal.

A history of the independent journalism of the town of Northampton would be incomplete without a mention of the establishment and the proprietor whose work has led to its present culmination, and we will therefore briefly pass them in review. Mr. Burt's venture was in the shape of a semi- weekly sheet of four pages, 20 by 28, five columns to the page.

The new paper met with a warm reception, and the marked independence of character and managerial ability of its owner and editor soon impressed itself upon the paper which he edited, and the Free Press became noted for the vigor and in- dependence of its conduct. We may as well mention just here that the paper has always been what it claimed to be, a free press, non-sectarian in character, and extending to all phases of political and religious belief a representation, through cor- respondence, in its columns. This policy has continued with the successors of the old Free Press, and is a characteristic of the present Hampshire County Journal. In 1864, Mr. Burt enlarged his paper, making it 21 by 33, and taking as partner Charles II. Lyman. This partnership, however, lasted but a few months, and Mr. Burt remained the sole conductor of the paper a few months longer, disposing of his entire interest in the paper Dec. 9, 1864, to Albert R. Parsons, a native of Northampton, and a graduate of Yale College. The Free Press was again enlarged under Mr. Parsons' management the following year, making it 23 by 35. In December, 1869, Mr. Parsons disposed of the establishment to Calvin Porter and II. M. Converse, of Northampton, who gave the paper a new dress of type and improved it generally. With the be- ginning of the new year, 1871, the paper was again enlarged, and changed from a weekly to a semi-weekly paper. Mr. Porter severed his business connection with the Free Press November 3d of the same year, and the new firm took the name of Converse & Burleigh, the senior partner being Le Moyne Burleigh, a young man of considerable experience in journalism, and one well qualified, so far as education and ability were concerned, to make the paper what it should be. Mr. Converse sold his interest in the Free Press to Mr. Bur- leigh Feb. 1, 1873, and Mr. Burleigh continued alone the management of the paper until its consolidation with the Journal, the latter being established Sept. 12, 1874. This was an eight-page paper, printed in old-style type, as is the present Journal, its successor. Its proprietors were II. H. Bond & Co., II. H. Bond and A. M. Powell being editors. In 1875, A. G. ITilI, of Florence, bought of Mr. Bond the entire interest in the Journal property, and consolidated the Free Press with the Journal. Geo. R. Edwards was publisher of the paper until November, 1876. Jan. 1, 1877, the present proprietors, Wade, Warner & Co., took charge of the office. During the famous Scott and Dunlap burglary trial in Northampton, in 1877, the Journal evinced a characteristic enterprise in publishing two daily editions of the paper, in which stenographic reports of the trial appeared.

LE JEAN BAPTISTE

was founded in Northampton the 24th of February, 1875, by Burleigh & Chatel. September 21st, P. O. Chatel became the only proprietor, and it was enlarged for the first time Dec. 15, 1879, being then only 19 by 25, and becoming 21 by 31. On April 10, 1876, the proprietor moved to Holyoke, taking the publication of the paper there, and on May 16, 1877, it was en- larged again. On March 6, 1878, Mr. Chatel took as partner Mr. A. Dupenault, but dissolved 18th of March of the same year, when it was removed back to Northampton, where the paper started with about 300 subscribers, and has now reached over 1200, and was all this time well patronized by advertisers. It has the largest circulation of any French paper in Western Massachusetts.

The following are the names of obsolete publications : The

218

HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

Patriotic Gazette, established April 12, 1799, discontinued soon after. The Republican Spy, started in Springfield in 1803, re- moved to Northampton, and in 1808 changed to the Anti- Monarchist and Republican Watchman. Its name was subse- quently changed to the Democrat, and it died out soon after the elose of the second war with England. The Hire was started in August, 1803, by T. M. Pomeroy. It died in 1805. The Oracle, a religious paper, was established in 1823. The Chris- tian. Freeman was moved from Greenfield to this place, and published by J. A. Saxton. The Hampshire Republican was begun Feb. 18, 1835, with Chaneey Clark as editor. It was soon changed to the Northampton Democrat, and in 1847 was purchased by the Springfield Post. The Temperance Banner was commeneed in 1835 by T. II. Mather, and continued about one year. The Hampshire Courier was established in 1845 by A. W. Thayer, and was merged in the Courier in 1848. The shortest-lived sheet commeneed in Northampton was the In- dependent Citizen, in 1849, by II. S. Smith, two numbers only of which were issued.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I, Part 67

Author: L.H. Everts & Co Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts Number of Pages: 700

Author: L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts
Number of Pages: 700